Banks family papers

Henry Howard Banks was born on May 16, 1839 in Spring Hill, Ark., to Elizabeth Pratt and Alexander Robinson Banks. He was graduated from Davidson College in the 1850s. As a student at Presbyterian Theological Seminary (1858-60, 1861-62) in Columbia, S.C., Banks studied under the prominent theologian and pro-slavery advocate, James Henley Thornwell, a professor at the seminary from 1855 until his death in 1862 [see Banks class notes in box 1:4]. During the Civil War, Banks served as a chaplain in the Confederate Army in Asheville, N.C. After the war, he remained in Asheville as a minister until 1871. After spending the next two years in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Banks served Davidson College as a recruiter and fundraiser. He eventually returned to Asheville, where he died on August 16, 1878. The Rev. William Banks (1814-1875) was Alexander's younger brother. A graduate of the University of Georgia (1837) and Presbyterian Theological Seminary (1840), he went West after his ordination. Howard A. Banks (d. 1932), presumably the son of Henry and the father of Richard Torrance and Henry Howard [see Torrance and Banks Family Papers], worked as a journalist and a government official. He wrote for The Charlotte Observer, The News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), and the Philadelphia Record, as well as The Sunday School Times, for which he also served as Associate Editor. During the administration of President Woodrow Wilson, he was secretary to Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy. A graduate of Davidson College, he also received an honorary degree from the school. H. H. Banks (b. 1909) served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as firecontrolman aboard the U.S.S. Bell in the Pacific theater.